Tag Archives: Cottage Pie

Cottage Pie–or Is it Shepherd’s Pie?

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Cottage pie, shepherd’s pie, pasties, pot pie.. the list is endless. Earlier, I shared a recipe for chicken pot pie. Pot pie is a mixture of vegetables and meat baked in a casserole with a pie crust topping.

While many people are looking for royalty among their ancestors, I have had to content myself with peasants and yeomen.  It is from peasants in the British Isles that we get the name Cottage Pie–a dish meant to combine a bunch of leftovers in an easy-to-make comfort food.

Our innovative great- great- great grandmothers found many ways to serve up the meat and veggies baked in a crust of some sort.  One favorite in the British isles particularly is Shepherd’s pie, which has become a catch all for casseroles topped with mashed potatoes.  However if it is not made with lamb, it is not a shepherd’s pie.  Cows don’t have shepherds.  Put beef in with the vegetables and you get COTTAGE PIE. And add bread crumbs on top of the mashed potatoes and you have Cornwall pie.

Cottage Pie or Shepherd’s Pie are great ways to use up leftovers, including leftover mashed potatoes. But if you want some Cottage Pie and don’t have leftover mashed potatoes, this recipes includes instructions for starting with raw potatoes.

As I so often do, I scanned the Internet and then came back to my old, ragged, falling apart Joy of Cooking cookbook.

As far as I can see, the only MUSTS in this recipe are mashed potatoes, some kind of meat, some kinds of vegetables, ad seasonings that include nutmeg. It is one of those recipes that is very open to interpretation.  For instance, I include cheese in the mashed potatoes. Some recipes line the entire dish with mashed potatoes.

Cottage pie without crust

Cottage pie divided in several pans for freezing, before adding the mashed potato crust.

Note: The picture you see of my several pans of cottage pie reflect the fact that I made 1 1/2 recipe because I wanted to freeze some small containers to give to someone who had recently come out of the hospital.  In the spirit of Cottage Pie, I used what I had on hand, which resulted in a thinner coating of both filling and mashed potatoes than I normally would have.

Also, this emphasizes the point that not only is Cottage Pie a supreme comfort food, it is easily freezable for future days when the cook needs the comfort of having a meal ready to eat with some warming up.

Print

Cottage Pie

Veggies and meat with potato crust.
Course Main Course
Cuisine British
Servings 6
Author Vera Marie Badertscher

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb potatoes (Or left over mashed potatoes) peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup cheese grated
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 Tbsp oil
  • 1 Onion chopped
  • 1-2 Carrots Peeled and chopped
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 Tbsp flour
  • 3/4 Cup vegetable stock
  • 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
  • 1/2 tp nutmeg
  • 2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees
  • If you are not using leftover mashed potatoes: Cook potatoes until tender.
  • Mash with fork or masher or in food processor (BRIEFLY! Too long will make them gluey).
  • Stir in butter and cheese. (I use more than 1 Tbsp of butter. Let your conscience be your guide.)
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.
    Set aside while mixing filling.
  • Put 3 Tbsp oil in heated skillet. Heat oil.
  • Stir in onions just until limp.
  • Add carrots and stir 3 minutes.
  • Add ground beef and stir until no more red can be seen. (Drain excess liquid from ground beef if necessary)
  • Scatter flour over the ingredients in skillet.
  • Stir in broth. Then add thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well.
  • Grease deep pie plate and pour in contents of skillet.
  • Cover with mashed potatoes.
  • Dot on softened butter.
  • Bake at 350 degrees until potatoes are slightly browned. About 35 minutes.